The Pink Panther (2006)
The Pink Panther is a 2006 American detective comedy film and a reboot of The Pink Panther franchise, marking the tenth installment in the series. In this film, Inspector Jacques Clouseau is assigned to solve the murder of a famous soccer coach and the theft of the famous Pink Panther diamond. The film stars Steve Martin as Clouseau and also co-stars Kevin Kline, Jean Reno, Emily Mortimer, and Beyoncé Knowles. Despite a negative reception from critics, the film was a commercial success, as well as one of Martin's most successful movies to date, grossing $158.9 million worldwide. The film opens as Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus narrates a flashback of a soccer match semi-final between France and China. French coach Yves Gluant comes down the stadium, wearing the Pink Panther diamond ring, and kisses his girlfriend, pop star Xania, after whispering something to her. After France wins the game, Yves dies with a poison dart in his neck and the Pink Panther missing from his hand. Eager to win the Medal of Honor (the Légion d'honneur), Dreyfus promotes a clumsy policeman and "village idiot", Jacques Clouseau, to the rank of Inspector and assigns him to the Pink Panther case. Meanwhile, Dreyfus assembles a secret team of top investigators to crack the case, allowing Clouseau to serve as the public face of the investigation so that media attention is focused on Clouseau rather than Dreyfus's team. Dreyfus assigns Gilbert Ponton as Clouseau's assistant and instructs Ponton to keep him informed of Clouseau's actions; however, Dreyfus does not count on Ponton becoming good friends with Clouseau, and becoming remorseful of his orders. Bizu, a French footballer who had an affair with Xania - and therefore is the prime suspect in Gluant's murder - is shot in the head by an unknown assassin in the team's locker room. While at a casino to gain information, Clouseau encounters British Secret Agent 006, Nigel Boswell. Boswell foils a robbery at the casino by the notorious "Gas-Masked Bandits", using Clouseau's trenchcoat to hide his identity. Clouseau mistakenly receives credit for the deed in the press and is nominated for the Medal of Honour, much to Dreyfus' dismay. Clouseau follows Xania to New York City, suspecting that she knows more than she is telling. However, despite Ponton's insistence that she is most likely a suspect because Gluant cheated on her, Clouseau decides Xania is innocent. Meanwhile, based on the fact that the poison that killed Gluant was derived from Chinese herbs, Dreyfus concludes that the killer is a Chinese envoy named Dr. Pang. Now ready to take charge of the case and win the Medal of Honour, Dreyfus has one of his officers switch Clouseau's bag with one full of weapons at the airport for his return flight to France. The bag sets off the metal detector at the security gate and Clouseau is arrested due to his inability to pronounce "hamburger" correctly. Upon his return to France, the press vilifies him and Dreyfus strips him of his rank for "trying to become a hero". The Chief Inspector now plots to publicly arrest Dr. Pang at the Presidential Ball, where Xania will also be performing. At home, Clouseau is reading an online article about his arrest when he notices something significant in the photo that he believes may solve the case. From the photo, he deduces that the murderer will next try to kill Xania, and contacts Ponton. The two detectives rush to the Élysée Palace and sneak into the Presidential Ball. While Dreyfus publicly arrests Dr. Pang for double murder, Clouseau and Ponton save Xania's life by capturing her would-be assassin, Yuri, the soccer team's Russian trainer; Yuri believed he was the one who helped the team succeed, though Gluant took all the credit. Clouseau explains that every national soccer team's trainer is required by statute to have a knowledge of Chinese herbs (accounting for the dart which Yuri has jabbed into Gluant's neck). He then explains that Yuri killed Bizu, after the latter blackmailed him, using Russian military tactics. Clouseau then reveals that Yuri tried to kill Xania out of revenge for her dismissal of him while she was dating Gluant. Clouseau also concludes that the Pink Panther diamond was never stolen, but is sewn into the lining of Xania's purse; Xania received it from Gluant as an engagement ring. She had kept it secret, believing that if she came forward with the diamond, everyone would think she did it, which could have destroyed her singing career. Clouseau explains that he saw the diamond in the online photograph of his arrest, which showed Xania's purse on the airport's luggage scanner, but concludes that Xania is the rightful owner of the ring, as Gluant gave it to her before his death. For successfully solving the case, Clouseau wins the Medal of Honour. While leaving with Ponton, following the ceremony, Clouseau accidentally gets Dreyfus's jacket caught on his car; he remains oblivious to Dreyfus's screams as he drives away. Clouseau and Ponton later visit him in hospital. After Clouseau wishes him well, he accidentally releases the brake on Dreyfus's bed; the bed races through the hospital and throws Dreyfus into the Seine, shouting Clouseau's name in anger as he takes the plunge. Of note, Jackie Chan was originally offered the part of Clouseau's manservant, Cato Fong, but turned it down due to his perceived political incorrectness. Gilbert Ponton serves as Cato's stand-in. A re-collaboration between Steve Martin and producer Robert Simonds, the successful teaming behind Cheaper by the Dozen, The Pink Panther had a production budget of US$80 million. Filming began on May 10, 2004. The film received generally unfavorable reviews. The film holds a 22% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and a score of 38 on Metacritic. The film was nominated for twoGolden Raspberry Awards in 2006, one in the category "Worst Remake or Rip-off", and one in the category "Worst Supporting Actress" for Kristin Chenoweth. The Pink Panther opened at #1 in the United States, grossing $20,220,412 from 3,477 theaters, and took in an additional $20,863,217 over the four-day Presidents Day weekend the following weekend. The film closed in US theaters on April 16, 2006, having grossed $82,226,474 in its ten weeks of release. Overseas, the film took $76,624,883, resulting in total box office gross revenue of $158,851,357. US screenings made up 51.8% of box office takings, with international viewings responsible for 48.2%. The Pink Panther is the highest-grossing film in reboot of The Pink Panther franchise. The Pink Panther was released for home viewing on June 13, 2006, and sold 693,588 DVD copies, worth $9,391,182. To date the film has sold 1,579,116 copies—$23,216,770 of consumer spending. Christophe Beck is credited with the film score which was released as the soundtrack album The Pink Panther about one month following the release of the film. Singer Beyoncé Knowles performed two songs for the film, "A Woman Like Me" and U.S. number-one hit, "Check on It". The latter serves as the film's theme song aside from the Pink Panther theme. Numerous other songs were used in small parts, but only Beck's original score was included on the soundtrack album. The sequel to this film, titled The Pink Panther 2, was released on February 6, 2009. It again features Steve Martin as Inspector Clouseau and Jean Reno as Gendarme Ponton, but was notable for having John Cleese as Dreyfus instead of Kevin Kline. Beyonce Knowles did not return for the sequel. The film features Clouseau and a "Dream Team" of the world's best detectives formed to catch the international mastermind thief El Tornado, who has stolen several valuable treasures, including the Shroud of Turin, the Pope's Ring and the Pink Panther diamond. The film grossed $75,946,615 at the box office.